2006 Consumer Electronics Show Recap

We once again sent our senior editor to Las Vegas to cover the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, and once again he failed to even bring us back a Las Vegas t-shirt or shot glass. But he did bring us this recap of the gadgets and technology trends he witnessed first hand at the show.

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For four days in early January, the consumer electronics industry gathered in
Las Vegas for their annual adrenaline-pumping, drool-inducing event. Once again
I was there with the anticipation of a child sitting in front of a Christmas
tree surrounded by unopened gifts.

So did I get everything I wanted, or did Santa fill my stocking with coal?
Well, there was no coal, but the show was still a mixed bag. Read on for my full
assessment.

CES and PORN

Okay, so I was looking for an excuse to talk about porn in my article. But
you have to admit, it’s easy when you’re dealing with a show in
Vegas. This year it was even easier. It’s no secret that the CES shares
time with the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (sorry, no link), but this year it
also shared space. After putting emerging tech exhibits in tents outside the Las
Vegas Convention Center last year, the powers-that-be decided to move those
exhibits to the Sands Expo Convention Center. The Sands just happens to be the
location of the Adult Entertainment Expo, and the two shows quite literally were
sharing space and competing for, uh, eyeballs in the common areas.

Needless to say, there was an interesting mix of people in the lobby, and
I’m sure there were plenty of attendees who visited both shows. (Sorry,
but I wasn’t one of them. No pictures for you.) It’s interesting to
note that the adult film industry has been on the forefront of new technologies
for years, so it is somewhat appropriate that these two shows are scheduled at
the same time. Without porn, the adoption of the VCR, DVD player, and internet
arguably would have been a lot slower than it was. One of the emerging
technologies at this year’s CES, IPTV, is largely being driven by adult
movies right now (more on that a bit later). I suppose that’s as good a
segue as anything back into my review of the CES.